The Renal Response to Infection

Abstract

Involvement of the kidneys, either primarily or secondarily, in the course of infectious diseases is a rather common event and has figured prominently in the history of nephrology. Indeed, in the pre-antimicrobial era, acute and chronic renal disease developing as a part of systemic infection was a frequent cause of mortality (1). With partial control of infectious diseases through antibiotic and chemotherapeutic agents, renal disease is now a less frequent cause of mortality in bacterial infections; however, it remains as an important cause of morbidity and mortality in viral, protozoal and helminthic infections particularly hepatitis B, malaria and schistosomiasis. The therapy of infection has also created iatrogenic renal diseases not recognized in the pre-antimicrobial era.